The present disclosure relates to an image processing apparatus and method and, more specifically, to an image processing apparatus and method with which a disparity image is generated with a high degree of precision.
Three-dimensional (3D) images have been recently receiving attention, and display apparatuses are becoming available for display of such 3D images. As an example, refer to Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2010-211036. A 3D image includes two or more color images viewed from different viewpoints, and these different-viewpoint color images are captured by imaging or generated using a disparity image (disparity map). This disparity image provides pixel values, which are disparities between each pair of pixels in a color image obtained by imaging from another viewpoint.
The disparity image may be generated using a plurality of color images obtained by imaging from different viewpoints, or generated by estimation using a color image obtained by imaging from one viewpoint. Generating a disparity image with a high degree of precision expects a high rate of throughput and a large-sized circuit. It means generating a disparity image with a high degree of precision may be difficult depending on the allowable rate of throughput or the allowable size of a circuit. When the precision of a disparity image is not high enough, the resulting color image to be generated using the disparity image may suffer from distortion, for example.
Moreover, when a disparity image is obtained using a plurality of different-viewpoint color images that are disparity-compressed at the time of imaging, or if any local change of disparity is not detected with a high degree of precision when a disparity image is generated, a change of disparity in the resulting disparity image may be small. As a result, in a 3D image obtained using the disparity image, the cardboard effect may be caused.